Positions are part of local labor deal with UAW

Dec. 12, 2013

Workers assemble cars at the General Motors plant in Spring Hill. / SUBMITTED

Written by

G. Chambers Williams III

The Tennessean

General Motors’ Spring Hill plant will add 384 hourly workers — in addition to 1,800 new jobs it promised in July — under terms of a new local work agreement ratified this week by members of United Auto Workers Local 1853.

The Local 1853 website said 63 percent of the workers voted in favor of the new agreement, which covers work issues specific to the Spring Hill plant, and will remain in effect until the next national contract is negotiated in 2015.

Workers at the plant are still waiting to hear what two new “core” vehicles the facility will get for its assembly lines, which were part of an agreement in the current GM-UAW Spring Hill contract approved by the members in July 2011 and reaffirmed by GM in August. Those new models are expected to go into production by 2016.

“This new collective-bargaining agreement was crucial for GM and the UAW, so there would be a ratified agreement before an announcement of new core products,” said Michael Herron, shop chairman for Local 1853. “It gives us a foundation for launching these two new products.

“It’s too early to tell what the hiring strategy will be, but the expectation is there will be some local hires,” he said. “But that decision has not been made yet.“

As for when the announcement of the new vehicles will come, “It will all be dependent on the product timing as determined by General Motors,” Herron said. “This business is very competitive, and those jobs will come with the new core products when the company decides the timing is right.”

Although GM hasn’t yet identified the vehicles, some analysts have suggested that one would be the next generation of the Cadillac SRX midsize crossover, which is now made in Mexico, and the other perhaps a new Buick midsize crossover based on the same architecture.

Spring Hill already assembles four-cylinder versions of the Chevrolet Equinox crossover, which it began producing last year as an alternate site to the main Equinox production facility in Canada. That move reopened the vehicle-assembly line that had been idle since GM put it on standby and moved production of the Chevrolet Traverse large crossover to Michigan in November 2009.

The 384 new positions will be in a variety of work areas, including cockpit assembly, body shop, engine dress, sub-assembly for the new vehicles, stamping, and skilled trades, according to the website’s summary of the agreement.

Spring Hill now has about 2,000 workers, including those making four-cylinder Ecotec engines, body parts and other components besides assembly of the Equinox.

“Moving forward, with this contract and the way we’re set up, we truly have the ability to be very flexible and generate a significant number of jobs at this location,” Herron said. “We have some work to get there. But I have all the faith in our leadership team and the team at General Motors to get the job done.”

The collective-bargaining agreement, which mainly covers local work rules including such issues as clothing and safety-shoe allowances, is specific to the plant.

“This process is truly empowering for the workforce and good for the future of the plant,” Herron said. “It’s how the rules of the game are set. But the overall goal is that we want the company to be successful. That gives us job security and bigger profit-sharing checks.”